Lizzie and the Christmas Tree

by Okenko Books

Once again the northeast is being pummeled with more snow and the time is nearing that our bedtime routine will begin.  I have asked our littlest critic what he wanted to read tonight and he happened to see my iTouch and asked, “Momma what is this new picture on your iTouch?” It just so happened to be a book by Okenko Books called Lizzie and the Christmas Tree which talks about one of his favorite holidays!!! His eyes lite up and he positioned himself on the couch ready to listen.

This is the first book that I have downloaded from Okenko Books and it will not be my last.  Many ebook applications are narrated and have the option to auto scroll, offering a young reader to be independent.  Although this independence is a wonderful trait to instill in your child, the concept of spending time together reading is also just as important.  My little critic is being brought up in a technology based world and everyday I am amazed at what he is capable of doing on all of our gadgets. Okenko Books offers the technology without taking away the role of a parent and the importance of reading.

There are so many things that I loved about Lizzie and the Christmas Tree.  Lizzie’s family is no different from any other family, just about anyone can relate to having a Christmas with several comedy of errors.  Initially, I was not sure if I was going to like the text on one page and the coordinating images on the next.  After reading the book twice, I actually loved the idea!!!  It allows the listener to focus in on what the reader is saying to then be surprised and see the words visually with painting-like images. The illustrations are not your typical design which set it apart from other ebooks.  In addition, it lends nicely to conversation between child and parent on predictions of what happens next or why certain things happened as they did.

As we read, a number of familiar connections were immediately made. This was our first Christmas in our house with an added bonus of a cat just as Lizzie had.  My little critic loved the animal names and how we too feared the cat climbing up the tree. Each day we would come home from school to find ornaments down or missing. In the story, Lizzie’s brother Patrick helps to put the star on the top of the tree.  When my son heard this, he immediately stated, “We didn’t have a star on our tree Momma! We need to get one for next year. I want to be able to do what Patrick did too.”  Without giving too much away to those that have not read Lizzie and the Christmas Tree, I will leave you with this…. our connections continued till the very end of the book, we laughed and  were very surprised by its ending.  It was a great way to end our day!

If you would like to learn more about this book or other books from Okenko Book then be sure to check out their website – http://www.okenkobooks.com/ or you can visit them in iTunes by clicking here.